Category: sweaters

  • it’s shoddy photo day

    I’m terribly sorry about the quality of these photos – perhaps my constant headache due to sickness is to blame. I am feeling much better today and managed to stay out of bed, although my throat was killing me. Felt like I’d swallowed a golf ball and it wasn’t going anywhere.

    Onwards.

    The blue cabled pullover is done, so I can check one pre-Olympic goal off! As I knit the sleeve (which has a diamond cable on it), it was rolling and folding very strangely. Observe:

    the sleeve, relaxed.

    Actually on my arm, which gives me the hope that it’ll look fine while worn:

    Evidence of blocking:

    Note that the front neck is, in fact, lower than the back. And yes, I did fix the sweater’s wonkiness after seeing this photo, but back to the neck – I’d originally just done the front and back the same, but after trying it on I decided that the neck was a bit too high in the front, too chokey. So I ripped out the ribbing and a few rows, and did short rows to shape the neck. Much better.

    I love getting things in the mail:

    Two pounds of blue faced leicester from Copper Moose on eBay. I’m still waiting on some soy silk, though – and I ordered it over two weeks ago!

    File under “Extremely Random”: I have a song from Brokeback Mountain, one that is in a commercial, stuck in my head. Makes me want to see the movie again. Guess that means that commercial is doing its job!

  • no more red sweaters

    First of all, thank you for all the kind comments about Nordic Memories! I’m really proud of that one. Note that I originally got the issue of Interweave it was in wrong – it’s Winter 2003 (not fall). It’s the one with the slouchy Dolman Updated on the cover.

    The title’s something Jill said to me awhile back. And you know, I do believe I’ve entered a blue (or at least non-red) phase, in the knitting and perhaps even the spinning. The next couple knitting projects I’ve got planned are blue, blue, brown, grey, grey, grey, and maybe…more blue.

    I’ve started a new pullover out of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, which is really quite nice! The front cable’s from “Rhapsody in Tweed”, from a back issue of Interweave. I haven’t yet decided whether I’m going to do the usual raglan or try out the faux saddle shoulder. The yarn also seems to be going quite far, so I think I can do a cable on the sleeves too!

    New yarns – first up some handspun, merino of course. This is a lovely soft lilac/lavender/pinky mix. Not my usual colours, but really pretty. I’ve got over 300 yards of this. (I’ve futzed with the colour on this photo, and it’s nearly true to life.)

    Other new yarn – thanks (gee, thanks, Jessica) to a tip from Rose-Kim Knits, I bought two bags of Rowanspun 4ply in “midnight”…even though I’ve already got a sweater’s worth in “blood” from Elann!

    Coming soon – finished socks, new handspun (I just keep getting lured back to the wheel), and maybe a new project or two!

  • ah, those Nordic Memories

    LOVE IT!

    *Click for cuff and ribbing detail*

    Nordic Memories
    Pattern: Interweave Knits, Fall WINTER 2003
    Yarn: Knitpicks Merino Style, 10 skeins Hollyberry, 2 skeins Harvest, 1 skein Storm
    Needles: Denise US 5
    Finished: January 24, 2006

    My first fair isle! Done back and forth, too – so my purl rows are definitely looser than my knit rows. Colourwork isn’t perfect, but who is? I floated the yarn behind, resulting in some damn long yarn pieces back there…

    7 stitches, actually! In DK weight yarn! Long I know, but I tried weaving and it just wouldn’t work – the bright yellow showed through way too much.

    The sleeve cap on this sucker is a bit weird – usually you’d start by binding off a few stitches, but this one is just “BO 1 at the beginning of following 12 rows”. I didn’t bind off the one stitch – instead I decreased at both ends on the RS rows. Made it a bit difficult to match up with the armhole, but I suppose it worked. The upper arm’s also a bit big for me, but that’s ok.

    I made the sweater body a titch longer than in the pattern, about a centimetre or a little more on the front and back. And I used the FULL ten balls of the MC – check out my leftovers:

    So cozy and soft, yet not sloppy looking! I just love it!